VietNamNet Bridge – Children go to school, but parents have to learn to do the homework brought home by students. It is because the homework is sometimes too difficult and beyond the capability of the children.

A painting lesson at Vietnam-America Primary School

Tuyen said: “I have never made a pillow-case, and I don’t know how much cloth is needed to make a pillow-case.”

Nguyen Van Cuong in Go Vap district, also said that the thought of having to help his two children with embroidering homework leaves him in a cold sweat. As the children do not have a mother anymore, Cuong has no other choice but to ask the neighbouring women to do the exercises for them, otherwise, they will get low marks and be punished by teachers. Cuong’s children related that all male and female students have to learn to do embroidery and tailoring.

Anh Thoa, in district 3, related that October 20 was a day to remember as she and her son had to do the task assigned by her son’s teacher. At 10:00 pm her son told her that the teacher asked students to colour a white daisy. Thoa had to hurry to the Tan Dinh market to buy a flower, but there were not any flowers left at that time. After that, she had to go to Ben Thanh market, and was happy to buy one flower at VND 15,000. Only at 11:00 pm, could she sit down at the table to colour the flower’s petals with three colours, sighing with relief that her son would get a good mark for the coloured flower.

The good marks for… parents

Tuan Khai, the son of Ngoc Diep, related that his teacher always asks if he is really able to do the homework. “I said that my mother showed me the way to do it, so that I could do the exercise myself,” he said.

Khai said that Mai Thi, a classmate, always gets low marks because her father is not dexterous, while other friends all get high scores because their parents are very skillful.

Bao Van, a housewife, who has a daughter learning in the 9^th class, related that several years ago, her daughter always got marked 3-4 for her bad work, but nowadays, she always gets 9s and 10s, because the work is the product of her mother.

Van said that she knows well that it is not good to do homework for children. However, she said that the homework is too difficult for the children to do themselves. If parents do not help their children, the children will be punished at schools.

Doan Truc